Nightlight
by ScotSniper
Summary: When their former master, a deadly Assasin, returns Silver and Blue are trapped in his web of darkness. As the strands of his web are slowly unraveled the Dexholders find themselves in the midst a far more sinister plot.
1. Chapter 1

Hey Scot here again. I've wanted to do a mystery fic for some time now. And finally I have devised a good plot. I hope I can keep you on the edge of your seat and keep you guessing. So enjoy! Oh I should mention that there will be a few OCs. A couple of Green's Gym trainers will have major roles in the story as their involvement will allow many side stories to pop up rather than having a linear storyline. Also the cast from my "The Right Incentive" story shall appear as supporting characters. (Sorry Unknownguy I'm borrowing Jean again.) But fear not! This story will of course focus on the Dexholders.

"I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." - The Old Astronomer to His Pupil

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><p><strong>Nightlight.<strong>

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><p>Under cover of darkness on an empty street a lone girl walked. The lampposts overhead flickered as she passed beneath them. She raised a hand to her long brown hair to secure her white summer hat as a weak gust blew by. Her teenaged face was expressionless her eyes drooping from tiredness.<p>

Another figure approached her, walking on the opposite side of the street, the girl simply ignored his presence as he passed by her. He was just a shadow, another person with his own life and worries, none of which concerned her.

Or so she believed.

"You've grown up to be very beautiful." The Shadow spoke, pausing for a moment, without turning to face her.

The girl glanced over her shoulder at the man cloaked in black. "You know me?"

"We'll see each other again soon, Blue."

The girl couldn't help but feel a terrible chill run down her spine.

The man continued walking into the darkness.

"You can run… you can hide… but you can never escape your shadow…" He spoke in an eerie whisper, pausing once more under a lamppost. Blue snapped around to glare at his back. "… Perhaps I should visit those who stand in your shadow and make them one with the darkness…"

"Who are you? !" She demanded, taking a Pokeball from her belt. "Answer me!"

The light bulb in the lamppost above the figure exploded, causing all the other lights to fuse and go out. Blue instinctively flinched and covered her eyes to protect them from falling glass. When she opened them again, the man was gone.

Blue's eyes followed the path the man had come from and her eyes settled on the Viridian Gym. She immediately felt her blood run cold, that man had threatened her friends. Had he targeted Green?

She took off in a sprint brushing by another figure that was leaning against a nearby building.

"Hey!" She snapped grabbing her arm.

Blue narrowed her eyes into a glare at the girl; she was one of Green's gym trainers. And as she expected of Akira, the girl was frowning. Clearly bored of having the role of night watch for the evening.

"Akira," Blue spoke her voice fully serious, which made Akira raise an eyebrow. She wasn't accustomed to Blue being serious; no doubt due to her usually laid back personality. "Is Green inside the gym?"

"Huh? Trying to pay our boss a night time visit?" Akira smirked. "Sorry but, he's at home visiting his family in Pallet so you can't annoy him tonight."

Blue let out a sigh of relief.

Akira spoke again. "If you see Flynn around do me a favour and humiliate him for me."

Blue chuckled knowing the relationship between the two. "You know from an outsider's perspective they'd think you have fallen for the guy."

Akira looked disgusted. "Who could possibly find that guy attractive? He makes me want to vomit every time I see him. I even have a recurring dream where I kill him in a wide variety of ways."

Blue took a casual step back smiling slightly, her memory of the strange man still fresh in her mind. "Well the ladies around town like him, and I heard your older sister had a thing for him too."

Akira hissed angrily and turned away from her. "Don't talk about my sister."

Blue let out a chuckle. "Well it's too late to head to Pallet Town now…" Blue glanced at a nearby café the words _"The Right Incentive"_ where displayed on the sign with a small message Blue couldn't help but chuckle at whenever she saw it.

'_Will do any job for money… within reason.'_

"Well at least I have a place to stay tonight." Blue yawned deliberately to annoy the younger gym trainer. "I can't wait to get a good night's sleep."

"I've added you to my must kill list." Akira deadpanned, scribbling into her note pad. "You are currently Number 12."

Blue smiled, gave Akira friendly wave and she stealthily slipped into the second floor of the Café. She would worry about everything tomorrow.

* * *

><p>In the far away Johto region a boy with long red hair stood before a large tower. The building seemed to sway from side to side. Silver, the boy, frowned at the sight of it and started to cross the bridge to reach the small island upon which it was based.<p>

"So this is sprout tower then?" A low voice whispered, causing Silver to jump. Nobody was able to sneak up on him like that, except for his sister. He snapped around to face a figure garbed in black.

"Who are you?" Silver questioned, his sharp grey eyes narrowing as he reached for his belt.

There was blur and movement and Silver suddenly felt a sharp pain in his side, he felt cold… like warmth from his body was being drained from him.

"Is that all you got?" The voice mocked. "Your sister will be very disappointed in you."

"S-stay away from her…!" Silver managed to gasp weakly falling to his knees, he had been stabbed, Silver realised and unless he stopped the flow of blood he was going to bleed out.

"Oh don't worry dear boy." The shadow whispered. "My poison is already spreading through your blood stream. You will pass from this world long before you bleed to death."

Silver felt dizzy and crumpled face down on the old wooden bridge. His lasts thoughts before his consciousness failed him were of his sister, he prayed that she would be spared his fate.

"I really expected more of a fight from you though." The voice mused, but was cut off by the sound of someone approaching.

Silver heard a pair of footsteps and his name being called over and over.

Silver's eyes closed and everything went black.

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><p>A teenaged girl sat by a riverbed, a large straw hat covering her blond hair. A Pikachu with a pink ribbon tied around its ear curl up beside her. She had cast her fishing rod into the river and was lying back patiently staring into the sky. On her lap was a sketchpad filled with drawings of her and her friends. Her most recent drawing titled "<em>My happily ever after?<em>" Was a drawing of her (without her hat) sharing a passionate kiss with a raven-haired boy with scarlet eyes.

For Yellow was a dreamer. Always drawing whatever she imagined, from adventures with her friends, to her deepest romantic fantasies. She suddenly hugged her sketchpad tightly against her body suddenly realizing its value to her.

It was at that time a shadow stepped quietly into the forest clearing. His eyes glinting as he approached the unsuspecting girl.

Yellow noticed his presence too late and a loud scream echoed through the trees of the Viridian forrest.


	2. Chapter 2

You Must Always Check Your Bed Is Empty Before Getting In.

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><p>Fresh sunlight slipped into The Right Incentive, and Mallori a 16-year-old employee who had a room on the second floor finished straightening her long light brown hair. She slipped into her usual 'tomboy' attire and went to rouse her boss and co-worker.<p>

As she approached the door to his room she started complaining loudly hoping that he was awake to hear it. If not she would hit him with her skateboard.

"Seriously 'Low!" She grumbled spitting out her boss' nickname with contempt. She opened his bedroom door. "Why do I have to drag you out of bed every morning! You are supposed to be running a business here-!"

Mallori froze her skin turning pale at the horror that lay before her eyes.

Willow Alexander, the young entrepreneur who ran a jack-of-all-trades business with two of his friends, slowly opened his eyes and brushed his dark brown hair away to glance up at Mallori.

"Eh? Why are you looking at me like that?" He droned tiredly. "I'm not that ugly…" He turned over and found himself staring into the face of a girl. Her sapphire blue eyes slowly opened and stared back at him.

Willow started sweating profusely his expression frozen in a state of horror.

Blue smiled at the panicking teen. "Morning 'Low."

That did it for Willow. He leapt from his bed (in his boxers and red t-shirt) screaming in a manly way.

"WHAT DID I DO? !" He wailed flailing his arms as Mallori continued to stand in the doorway frozen. "It was only a few drinks, how did THIS happen? !"

"Willow…" Blue yawned trying to get his attention, but she was ignored.

Willow curled up in the corner and started rocking himself gently. "Everyone calm down… w-what w-we need I-is a-a t-t-time machine…"

"You are the one who needs to calm down!" Mallori snapped at him, her face turning a shade of scarlet. "What did you do last night? !"

"I don't know…" Willow continued to rock himself gently. "I was sitting in the café… I had a couple of drinks… then…" He frowned. "I don't remember…"

Blue burst out laughing. "Oh man your expressions are priceless! Alright Low don't worry, I needed a place to sleep so I let myself in."

Willow and Mallori let out sighs of relief.

Blue tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I wonder if Green's back at his gym yet?"

Willow stood up slowly still shaking slightly. "Oh god if Green walked in here right now he would get the wrong idea."

"Oh don't worry." Blue smiled innocently. "I'll just tell him we slept together."

"While that might be true, I'm sure he would get the wrong idea…" Mallori deadpanned.

It was at that moment Green burst through the door panting. He paled when saw Blue in Willow's bed.

"Hey Green." She waved happily. "I was just coming to see you."

"Green…" Willow raised his hands in surrender. "I know this looks bad… but I assure you… I did nothing."

"We slept together." Blue added.

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Willow roared. "When I woke up you were in my bed! I did nothing!"

Green's face remained serious. "Silver's been stabbed."

At that moment the room went silent. Blue's eyes widened in horror, before anyone could react she was standing in front of Green.

"What happened? Where is he? Is he alive?" Blue spat out questions one after the other before Green could even respond. Before she could rush off he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"He is safe." He comforted her. "Crystal found him and immediately treated his wound, she was also able to cure most of the poison before it caused any massive damage."

"W-where is he?" Blue stuttered.

"Violet City Hospital." Green spoke his expression suddenly grim. "Whatever poison it was… its put him into a coma. If Crystal hadn't found him when she did, then it's most likely that he…" Green trailed off looking away from her.

"Is now a good time to point out that Blue and I didn't do… 'That'?" Willow awkwardly added earning him the glares of everyone in the room.

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><p>Green, Blue and a couple of his Gym trainers – a tired Akira and a stone faced Flynn – sat down in the Viridian City Gym.<p>

Akira had Blue sit down at a table, while Flynn rushed off to get her something to drink.

"Hey…" Akira started, feeling some sympathy for the silent girl. "How are you doing?"

"You know how I'm feeling…" Blue shot back.

"Its okay to be worried about him." Akira sighed. "But it isn't healthy to dwell on it. At present there is nothing you can do until my boss can arrange an emergency flight to Violet."

"I can make my way there by flying." Blue told her. "I can't just sit around!"

"In your current state of mind that would be unwise, trust me, I know you want to do something but you can't." Akira told her. "Leader Green is worried about you. He doesn't want you rushing off."

Blue lowered her head. "Akira… your sister has health problems right?"

Akira flinched slightly before nodding slightly. "Yeah… She won't tell me anything about it though, she doesn't want to worry me."

"How do you cope with it?" Blue suddenly asked, immediately regretting it.

Akira closed her eyes. "You try to stay focused on other things… but… the longer you wait for news the harder it gets."

Silence fell between the two and Flynn returned with some tea, setting it down in front of Blue before leaving again. Akira glared daggers at him as he left; he seemed to ignore her existence.

"She loved him you know…" Akira started, lowering her head. "She actually loved that bastard."

Blue frowned. "What happened?"

"I can't stand him…" She muttered. "From the very beginning I've hated that guy…" Akira sighed. "I heard the whole thing, she confessed her feelings to him and he rejected her. Saying he didn't care about her. He completely crushed her heart."

Blue clasped her hands together. "T-that's terrible! How could he be so heartless?"

Blue noticed Akira glaring at Flynn as he spoke to Green, Akira reached out and grabbed a nearby butter knife and played with it in her hands. Her glare not once leaving Flynn.

* * *

><p>Yellow screamed and backed away. Her face as red as a fresh tomato. (AN: rotten tomatoes aren't usually red you see…)

"Uhh sorry Yellow." Red, the raven-haired champion of the Kanto region chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. His handsome 18-year-old face locked in a wide smile. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"How much did you see! ?" Yellow held her sketchpad tightly, trying her best to hide her drawings.

"Uhh… nothing?" Red looked confused. "Why is there something you're trying to hide from me?" He leaned forwards and tried to get a look at Yellow's drawings, but the girl's desperate flailing prevented him from seeing anything.

Eventually Red gave up and sat down by the riverbed. "Geez if you want to hide it that badly fine." He glanced up at the sky for a few moments and watched the clouds pass by. "Say Yellow?"

Yellow who had calmed down by now shot the boy a small smile. "What is it Red?"

"This is sorta like a date isn't it?" Red chuckled and continued to stare at the sky. Completely unaware of Yellow's shocked expression.

For a time things were quiet.

Red's Pokegear rang.

Red's smile faded.


	3. The Assassin and the Blind Girl

Scot: This chapter was a bit bigger than usual... I want a cookie.

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><p><strong>The Assassin and the Blind girl<strong>

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><p>It was late when Blue arrived in Violet City. She had immediately rushed off to the hospital, much to Green's dismay. He sent his two gym trainers after her while he took a moment to collect himself.<p>

Willow had called him paranoid when he heard of his plans to follow the girl. Reflecting on the situation it did appear that the attack on Silver was an isolated incident, and Blue wasn't being targeted. Silver was the son of a crime lord that had Kanto gripped in fear many years ago after all, something like this seemed inevitable.

As much as Green tried to tell himself that Blue was safe, his gut feeling disagreed. He cared for her; as much as he didn't want to admit it he did and that was the real reason he came out to Johto with her – not to be there for Silver but for her. It sickened him that he thought that way.

He saw a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye and he immediately took a battle stance only to be confronted with nothing but an empty street.

Green frowned. Perhaps he was being paranoid after all.

* * *

><p>Over the course of the following day – Blue had stayed by Silver's bedside during the night – several other Dexholders arrived to visit.<p>

Gold had torn through the hospital in a near manic frenzy, bursting into Silver's room with an expression of genuine concern followed shortly by a distressed Crystal and a confused Emerald.

Red and Yellow flew in on their Pokemon not long after.

It wasn't long until the intensive care unit was packed full. Patients spread rumours amongst themselves to try and settle their curiosity and the nurses were in a state of confusion with so many celebrities packed into a single room that they decided to keep their distance rather than to attempt to shoo them away.

Inside the room itself however, it was deadly silent.

Yellow eventually broke the silence. "Do we have any idea who did this to him?"

Green noticed that Blue tensed up as the question was asked, but made no attempt to answer.

Gold slammed his fist against the wall angrily. "If I catch the piece of crap that did this to him I'll rip him apart."

Crystal patted Gold's shoulder in an attempt to soothe him. "I just found him slumped in front of the sprout tower, he left his bag behind so I went to return it to him, but when I found him…" She trailed off shuddering slightly. "The way his wound looked, I could tell he had been poisoned… I-I didn't have much time so I administered a Pokemon antidote… I'm just glad it worked."

Red sat in silence nodding to himself. "Well as it stands we don't know who attacked Silver so the best course of action is to ask him when he wakes up."

Several others nodded in agreement.

"In the meantime…" Red continued. "I think it would be wise to have some of us guard him while he recovers."

"Now who do we know that we could hire to take care of that?" Gold smirked.

Green raised an eyebrow in irritation. "No. Those three idiots will end up killing him before an assassin does."

Gold shrugged. "I was merely offering a suggestion."

"I think Gold has a point." Red smiled. "I think we should get Willow and his team into this…"

Green stared at Red in horror.

"…But not as bodyguards." Red finished causing many others to sigh in relief. "If Willow is good at anything, it's finding answers."

"So who's gonna guard Silver then?" Gold asked. "I'd love to, but I have a date tomorrow…"

Crystal slugged him. "How can you possibly consider a date more important that your best friend's life?"

Green sighed. "Flynn, I want you to watch over him." Gesturing to his gym trainer.

"Very well. I'll protect him with my life." Flynn answered stoically.

Akira shot Green a glare. "What about me? You didn't drag me out here for no reason did you?"

"Akira, your sister lives in Cherrygrove does she not?"

Akira raised an eyebrow. "She does, but I'm on duty I can't just abandon my job."

"Take a break." Green waved her off. "You've been distracted recently anyways, you would only get in the way."

"But…"

"Take a week off and visit your sister, consider it an order."

Akira gave a weak smile and nodded. "…Thank you…"

Red sat back on his seat and stared out a nearby window. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this."

* * *

><p>Sapphire Birch sat on a tree branch gazing up at the sky. As she watched the clouds above pass by she let out a sigh.<p>

"Strange, I didn't know gorillas could sigh." A voice commented from below.

Sapphire tilted her head slightly, brushing away a strand of her brown hair as she did so, to shoot a passive glance at the red-eyed male blow. Ruby always did have a strange way of greeting her.

"What? No comeback?" Ruby feigned horror. "Something terrible must have happened!"

Sapphire let out another tired sigh. "What ya want Ruby?"

Ruby voice went serious. "Are you worried about our seniors? As far as I know Silver is fine."

"No… it isn't that…" Sapphire turned her gaze back to the clouds. "I've got a bad feeling 'bout this."

Ruby tugged at his large sock-like hat, "What do you mean by that?"

"Can't ya feel it…?" With one arm Sapphire reached out towards the sky, as if she wanted to grasp it. "Tha' air feels tenser than normal."

Ruby shrugged, deciding to return to mocking her, his own special way of telling her he cared. "Well I wouldn't know. Animals do have better senses than humans after all."

Sapphire jerked her arm back grabbing one of her Pokeballs. "We have company."

"The good kind or the bad kind?" Ruby groaned mimicking her actions.

"They smell like blood." Sapphire replied sharply moving to a perched position on the tree branch.

Ruby followed the girl's glare, his eyes settling on three figures cloaked in black. They seemed to walk in sync, an eerie mockery of soldiers marching in file.

"Definitely tha' bad kind."

The three attacked in sync, releasing several species of Pokemon Sapphire had only recently heard about.

"Ruby! These Pokemon are ghost types from Unova!" She yelled summoning her partner Toro, a tall fowl-like humanoid. The Blaziken spat a burst of fire from its mouth at the attacking Ghosts. Ruby had settled on his Mightyena a large black dog that was immune to the attacks of ghosts.

That would have been useful if the ghosts had been aiming for their Pokémon, but sadly this was no Pokémon battle.

Sapphire jerked her head sideways as a dagger whizzed where her head had been a moment ago, the dagger planting itself in a nearby tree. On realization that these men had intent to kill, Sapphire quickly dropped down from the trees and onto the stone path. She caught Ruby's arm in hers and dragged him into the forest, calling on their Pokémon to follow her.

"Sapphire! They're following!" Ruby cried. "And one of them ruined my shirt!"

"No time to think 'bout ya clothes ya prissy idiot!" Sapphire hissed and let out a very-unladylike curse as they reached a natural cliff. Sapphire glanced down and grimaced, there was plenty of trees that would cover their escape, but the fall was high enough (she estimated a 30ft drop between where she was standing now and the ground below) to cause severe injuries or make them go splat completely.

Behind them, their would-be assassins had caught up and slowly closed the gap.

"Sapph… this looks bad…" Ruby grit his teeth. "You got a plan?"

"Jump and die or stabbed and die?" She replied. "Your pick."

"Jumping has the possibility of survival…"

"Jumping it is."

As Ruby turned to jump, Sapphire let out a cry of alarm, Ruby snapped around midstep as burst of purple flame shot towards him. He was off balance and had no way to dodge. But then something even worse than suffering a painful death happened before his eyes; Sapphire, the girl he loved, flung herself in front of the attack striking her just above the heart.

Ruby didn't get a chance to scream, before Sapphire's limp body slammed into him, knocking him off the ground and over the cliff. Both plummeted into the trees below, there was a crunch as they broke through the branches of the canopy.

And then there was silence.

* * *

><p>Willow slipped into the tavern and glanced around the various people present; most were in a state of drunken stupor, while the rest were busy with their own matters.<p>

Willow scanned the room carefully. His contact said he would stand out, and to be completely honest, Willow was expecting him to come dressed like a clown or something similar. Bolan was that kind of man.

It was a meeting of fate that had let Willow to the former king of assassins, not on some Arceus forsaken battlefield, but in a filthy jail cell.

Six years ago Orre was highly unstable, an outbreak of skirmishes had broken out while Willow had been wandering the country – he honestly didn't know what compelled him to travel to a country were everyone over the age of Twelve had a gun on their person – as a result of the outbreak of violence he was swiftly arrested by security forces under the accusation he was a spy. Naturally Willow wasn't one to hang around to be interrogated, any country whose police arrest people under charges of witchcraft can't be taken seriously.

And it didn't take him very long to try and break out, conveniently releasing many of the other 'political prisoners' as a form of petty revenge against his captors. One of those he released turned out to be a very valuable contact and forever earned his gratitude by carrying him (who had been too frail and malnourished at the time to support himself) to safety on his back.

At the time Willow considered it an enormous inconvenience, but he now knew that if he had left the old man to rot, the chances of him waking up to a dagger to the chest would have been astronomically higher. Besides, carrying an old man to safety in return for having a legendary assassin protecting you seemed a rather good deal.

Back in the present a young girl caught his eye; she was far too young to be in a place like this. She sat at a table in the corner of the room. Beside her was an old man, arms folded, eyes narrowed with interest.

Willow sighed and took a seat at their table. He faced the old man for a moment before sending a glance at the young girl. She didn't face him, or even acknowledge his existence.

"It is good to see you alive young one." The old man smiled warmly.

Willow gave a respectable bow. "I'm sorry to drag you from your retirement old man." Willow glanced at the girl again noting her cloudy crimson eyes. "You brought your Granddaughter?"

"Lola." The old man smile faded slightly and he put on a forlorn look. "She's all that I have left."

"She's blind." Willow raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think its safe to bring her along?"

"I don't need to be taken care of." The girl spat harshly. "I can still kick your ass."

Willow had to replay the scene in his head a couple of times. Did a blind ten year old just threaten to 'kick his ass'? "Excuse me?"

The old man just laughed heartily and gave his granddaughter a pat on the head. "I've been more careful with Lola, I've given her some training."

"So you… eh… created a murderous blind ninja? Smart Bolan, very smart."

The old man laughed merrily again. "I was hoping she would take my place one day."

"As King of the Assassins?" Willow glanced once more at the girl; her eyes seemed to look beyond him.

"Queen." Lola shot back.

"Riiight…" Willow decided to get serious and sat forwards. "So, who do you think was behind this little attack?"

Bolan's cheerful demeanor vanished. "You've gotten yourself into a real mess this time young one."

"You're going to die, your going to die~" Lola sang cheerfully.

"How so?" Willow didn't like it when little girls prophesied his death, it was mildly… unsettling.

"The assassin who attacked your friend is a man named Soloman, The Shadow Spider."

"No offense but his title kinda doesn't strike me as formidable."

Bolan sank back in his seat. "Twenty years ago I was asked if I was afraid of anything."

Willow drew in closer.

"I remember my answer clearly… 'The spider'."

"So this Soloman person scares even the former king of assassins?" Willow grimaced. "That is most definitely not a good sign."

"Young one." Bolan spoke quietly. "You aren't his target. If you value your life do not involve yourself further. Stop before it's too late."

"I don't understand." Willow slumped back. "You're telling me to abandon my friends to save myself?"

"Not just yourself. For everyone who gets involved is added to his web. It starts with the main target, then it spreads – the people the target knows personally, then friends of those people next and their friends too. The cycle of death just keeps going on and on."

"Then why didn't you stop him?" Willow lowered his voice accusingly. "Isn't it your job to put rogues down?"

"I couldn't."

"Why not? !"

Lola's ears perked up. "Grandpa, someone's coming."

Bolan sighed defeated. "It seems Soloman has decided to come after all."

Willow felt a chill go down his spine as the lights in the Tavern suddenly went out. All voices went silent. Willow immediately stood up and faced in the direction of the doorway, the darkness preventing him from seeing much. His hand slowly reached for his long carving knife – he was grateful that he always carried it – and took a deep breath. Blood pulsed in his ears as he tried to focus for any sound that would alert him to a threat.

He heard several strangled gasps and the sound of people collapsing to the floor.

"Grandpa… I hear him." Lola muttered calmly. "He's not in the building."

"Its sounds like he bloody well is!" Willow snapped back at her.

Lola gasped. "Their heartbeats… they're slowing down… I can't hear them."

As Willow tried to piece together what she had meant by that the lights flickered back to life. He paused momentarily as the sudden rush of light blinded him and held his knife up underarm defensively. He slowly opened his eyes… and resisted the urge to vomit.

The people in the bar were all dead; black streaks under their skin were visible in place of their blood vessels, as if their very blood had turned into venom. The thing that scared Willow the most was there was not a single wound on any of them.

"…What's wrong? Grandpa? You're heart beat has gone funny."

Willow snapped around to face the old assassin and his heart sank.

Bolan had never looked so old his skin slowly paled as his blood too slowly turned black. He sent Willow a glance that told him that this was the end. "He poisoned the alcohol... must've been some fancy modern-day doo-dah to be remotely triggered..."

But the strange thing was, even as he lay dying… he smiled.

"Young one…" He gasped frailly; his saddened kind eyes flickered for a moment that reminded Willow that under his elderly façade, he was still a killer. "Soloman's attack this time is special… he is recreating events from his past… he wants to recreate himself through another… That boy… he wants the boy…"

"He attacked Silver and nearly killed him though…" Willow lowered his voice. "…I still don't understand…"

"Soloman… was wounded… on a mission…" Bolan wheezed. "He… couldn't protect… his sister…"

Then it all clicked in Willow's head. He was going to kill Blue. Willow mentally sighed, that poor girl had lots of people trying to kill her recently.

Lola was hyperventilating. "You're dying aren't you?" It wasn't really a question, more a statement.

The old man reached out and placed a hand on his granddaughter's head. "…Lola my dear… do not cry for me… for I have already caused far too many tears to be shed on my behalf." His breaths became shakier yet he continued on. "…Thank you… for making this old fool's last years… his fondest."

Lola was shaking her head in denial. "No no nonono! You still have so much to teach me! Don't leave me alone in the darkness! Please! I need you!" Tears were slowly trickling from her sightless jade eyes as she groped desperately as the dying man's frame.

"…You are strong…you will survive…" The old assassin wheezed, slumping back further in his seat and sent one last smile to Willow. "…Protect her…"

Willow lowered his head in respect as the old assassin breathed his last.

"So dies Bolan, the King of Assassins." A coarse voice whispered into his ear, tickling the back of his neck.

Willow snapped around only to suppress a scream as he met the lidless blood red eyes of a monster. He failed to get his footing as he retreated and tripped ungracefully to the worn wooden floor.

Soloman, the so called Shadow Spider, hung upside down from the roof, his body wrapped up in black folds like a mummy so that only his enormous lidless eyes bulged from their sockets.

Willow heard Lola gasp in confusion from the sudden noise and she took a fighting stance, tears still dripping from her face.

"You killed him!" She shrieked in fury. "I'll grind your skull into the dirt!"

Willow gagged as Soloman's head twisted in an unnatural angle so he could examine the girl.

"Ah, it seems I have missed one of Bolan's bloodline."

Willow subconsciously slid himself in front of her. He was hesitant to release one of his Pokemon into such a confined space where they would most certainly cause more harm than good.

The Spider simply laughed at his meaningless actions. "No matter, killing a blind brat is not worth my time." His eyes disturbingly snapped back to Willow. "You on the other hand…"

Willow narrowed his eyes and readied his dagger, like hell he would go down without a fight.

"I like your eyes…" Soloman mused. "I see that little spark that tells me you are willing to kill if prompted."

"Why are you going after Silver?" Willow spat. "What do you hope to achieve? !"

"I want to leave a legacy." Soloman crawled around the roof, his four limbs mimicking the moments of a spider. "I think I'll let you live, but in return I want you to pass a message for me…"

"Sure, what does the spiderman rip-off have to say?" Willow couldn't help but shoot an insult at this twisted fu****.

"…Tell my students they are in my web."

A silent hiss echoed through the room and several plumes of white smoke quickly filled the room. Willow felt his limbs go numb as he inhaled some of the fumes. He was unconscious before he even his the ground.


End file.
